Families of victims who lost their lives during the June 25 protests have come out to express their deep frustration and anger over the government’s failure to carry out autopsies as earlier scheduled.
They voiced their grievances on Tuesday, July 1, outside the City Mortuary, where they had gathered hoping for answers and closure.
According to the families, the government pathologist who was supposed to perform the post-mortem examinations refused to proceed, citing fears over his own safety.
This decision has left the grieving families shocked and confused, especially since the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) had reportedly instructed that autopsies should be carried out on all the bodies involved.
One distressed family member shared their ordeal, explaining how they had been going in circles at the morgue.
The mortuary staff blamed IPOA for the delay, while IPOA pointed fingers back at the facility. “We have been here since Sunday,” said one of the relatives. “They first told us the autopsies would be done yesterday, but later postponed to today.
Now we’re being told only two autopsies will be done, and the rest are pending because IPOA hasn’t finished preparing our files.”
The families are demanding clear explanations for these ongoing delays. They say the holdups have not only slowed down investigations into the causes of their loved ones’ deaths, but also prevented them from giving their family members a proper burial.
As of June 27, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) confirmed that at least 19 people had died across the country during the June 25 protests.
These protests were meant to be peaceful and commemorative in nature, but instead turned deadly.
The Commission strongly condemned the human rights violations that took place and insisted that those responsible must be held accountable.
In addition to the reported deaths, the KNCHR also revealed that 531 people had been injured, 15 individuals were forcibly disappeared, 179 were arrested, and there were numerous reports of sexual violence, though the exact number remains unknown.
Most of these cases have been linked to police brutality, yet no one has been brought to justice so far, as IPOA continues with its investigations.
The situation has been further complicated by a controversial video clip that surfaced recently, showing Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen making statements that appeared to discourage police officers from cooperating with IPOA in cases involving the shooting of civilians.
This came shortly after he was widely criticized for seemingly issuing a shoot-to-kill directive to the police.
However, Murkomen later defended himself, saying that his remarks had been misinterpreted. He clarified that what he meant was that officers should be allowed to protect themselves from immediate threats to their lives or safety, or when defending property and innocent members of the public.
Despite these explanations, public trust remains low, and the affected families continue to call for transparency, justice, and respect for their rights.
The delay in autopsies has only deepened their pain and raised more questions about whether the state is committed to holding those responsible accountable.
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